Development of nanobodies as theranostic agents against CMY-2-like class C β-lactamases

ABSTRACT Soluble single-domain fragments derived from the unique variable region of camelid heavy-chain antibodies (VHHs) against enzymes may behave as potent inhibitors. The immunization of alpacas with the CMY-2 β-lactamase led to the isolation of three VHHs that specifically recognized and inhibited CMY-2. The structure of the complex VHH cAb CMY-2 (254)/CMY-2 was determined by X-ray crystallography. We showed that the epitope is close to the active site and that the CDR3 of the VHH protrudes in the catalytic site. The β-lactamase inhibition was found to follow a mixed profile with a predominant non-competitive component. The three isolated VHHs recognized overlapping epitopes since they behaved as competitive binder. Our study identified a binding site that can be targeted by a new class of β-lactamase’s inhibitors designed with the help of a peptidomimetic approach. Furthermore, the use of mono or bivalent VHH and rabbit polyclonal anti-CMY-2 antibodies enable the development of the first generation of ELISA test for the detection of CMY-2 produced by resistant bacteria. IMPORTANCE The still increasing antimicrobial resistance in human clinic or veterinary medicine is a major threat for modern chemotherapy. Beside the major caution in the use of current antibiotics, it is important to develop new classes of antibiotics. This work was focused on β-lactamases that are the enzymes involved in the hydrolysis of the major class of antibiotics, the β-lactam compounds. We selected camelid antibodies that inhibit CMY-2, a class C β-lactamase produced by bacteria isolated from the veterinary and human settings. We characterized the conformational epitope present in CMY-2 in order to create a new family of inhibitors based on the paratope of the antibody. Finally, we designed a primary version of a detection system based on an ELISA using VHH and polyclonal antibodies.